Round Robin Journal Project, Round 3

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
As always, a new year brings on the promise to blog more consistently. I usually do very well at the beginning of the year when my creativity is at it's highest. But this year will be different! I have made more realistic creative goals for this year and I have the Round Robin Journal Project going on which will continue for most of 2014. Speaking of that, let's start the new year with pictures from round 3!

For my page in my own journal I did a piece on adventure using oil color crayons, watercolor and printed tissue paper. I made it a tactile affair by adding Modge Podge dipped cotton balls for clouds. It speaks to my desire for adventure and travel!

Nichole's journal pages in her journal for this round showcased her love of writing. I think a lot of us grew up reading Nancy Drew and I love that she used pages from one of the books. The paper tape adds the perfect pop of color too.

Phoebe's journal page followed the same theme she did previously for our journals in Round 2 by including a music playlist along with some tiny dried flowers, this time from the crepe myrtle. I love her little delicate ink line that travels around the edges. Lovely!

And round the journal goes...

In my journal, Nichole created a tactile and colorful piece with the words "before you thought of spring, the summer lapsed away". A perfect use of paper, paint and words!

I think Phoebe is the queen of doodling! I love her doodles! She did these beautiful, delicate plants in purple for Nichole's journal. So time consuming and so very perfect!

It was near the end of October when we were doing this round and everyone was busy posting beautiful pictures of all the trees full of fall color. Of course, I live in South Florida so I might see a red leaf once in a while but I longed for more. So I made some for Phoebe's journal!

And round it goes again...

Still keeping with a fall theme, I did a colored pencil piece for Nichole's journal that included a recipe for pumpkin soup. I love my little cat. So cute!

Nichole is a pretty good doodler herself! She created this fabulous Dream-Love-Create Joy piece in Phoebe's journal using ink and colored pencil. It's adorable!

I always love it when we are on the same wavelength while creating! And we don't ever know what each has created until we see it. Phoebe did doodles (like Nichole did) of fall leaves (like I did) for my journal pages. It was so nice to have autumn last a little bit longer. ;-)

Til next time, (which I promise won't be too long)...Happy New Year!

Round Robin Journal Project, Round 2

I had wanted to post this weeks ago, in fact, we are already on round five! Alas, I kept forgetting to scan the pages so I'm a little behind on posting the rounds! I hope to catch up with several blog posts over the next week. Click here to read about this project and see the pages for round one. Without further ado, here are our Moleskine pages from round 2 of the Round Robin Art Journal Project:

My page in my own journal for Round 2 was inspired by the day I spent with Luke roaming the back roads in Kansas. It was a fun day, with lots of interesting moments which I tried to capture in these pages.

Nichole's spread in her journal showcased both her voice and her story, but done in a way that still kept it private, while letting the viewer know, through her photography, that the mood was a bit more solemn.

Phoebe's pages included her photography of ethereal dreaminess coupled with a feeling of ephemeral moments with the inclusion of dried flowers. A few quotes and a vintage strip of tape tie it all together.

And round the journal goes...

Nichole's pages in my journal were so super cute! Sisters in Creativity indeed we are! I just love the little figures of us she did in colored pencil. It really matches us! Nice doodling too!

Phoebe's pages in Nichole's journal pay homage to the end of summer, with an excellent playlist and some delicate dried flowers. I love the idea of a playlist!

I did mixed media in Phoebe's journal which I titled "A Whole Century of Ordinary Life" and it included this found poem I created: "With a film of dust upon my memory, poring over forbidden pages, old and stained by process of time. A whole century of ordinary life; all through the years, an exchange of reminiscence and of dearest worth, a kiss of lovers." I included a pocket with a little secret stashed away.

And round it goes again:

I was very excited to see Phoebe also did a playlist in my journal! That meant I got to listen to more new songs on iTunes and add to my own playlist! She also does such great doodle backgrounds and of course, she added a touch of nature for me...a feather and some helicopter seeds! Soar!

My pages in Nichole's journal were inspired by her Facebook status about her son's homework which included rectangles, sight words and the letter M. You never know where inspiration will come from!

Nichole's pages in Phoebe's journal included a great quote by Jack Kerouac, other of On The Road. A deep blue, starry night sky for the background and a great page to remind us all to "just keep on rolling under the stars".

I hope you enjoyed this post of round 2 of the Round Robin! Stay tuned for Round 3 which will NOT take me as long to get posted. ;-)

Chillin' Out

It's Sunday! Time to chill out and watch football after two days of birding and spending time out in Nature. It's still pretty warm here in South Florida, but the Fall Migration is in full swing. Warblers are being spotted all around South Florida. This weekend I managed to add four birds to my life list: Swainson's Thrush, Yellow-throated Vireo, Black-throated Blue Warbler and the Red-eyed Vireo. Although I didn't get too many pics of the birds (think high in trees, shaded and fast moving!) I did manage to get some half-way decent shots a Great-horned Owl and of this cute, adorable raccoon chillin' out in a tree. Reminding us all that it is important to have some down time and relax. ;-)

Chillin' Out

Great-Horned Owl

Looking forward to birding every weekend possible until Summer, but today, right now...think I'll have another cup of coffee and watch Game Day Morning on the NFL Network. ;-)

Round and Round the Art Journal Goes...

Howdy everyone!
It's been a busy last few weeks of art journal fun! I started an Art Journal Round Robin with Nichole and Phoebe. I chose the Moleskine for us due to it's sturdy, pretty, cream-colored pages that can take pretty much any medium. We each began by doing a two-page spread. Then, our books were sent out...mine to Nichole, Nichole's to Phoebe and Phoebe's to me. We then did a two-page spread in that book before mailing it out again for the next round. Every third week, we'll have our own journals back to work on them! And to see what treasures lay inside! We aren't sharing any pages with social media until each round is complete so that we are all surprised by our pages. That is definitely part of the fun!

It's fascinating to see what each of us create in our own style. And to say it's inspired me is an understatement! While waiting for the journals to arrive, I've been busy working in my other Moleskines (several lay around half-full), trying out different techniques and ideas to possibly use in Nichole and Phoebe's books, practicing my sketching and even writing a nightly summary of my day. Heck, I even sketched in it while waiting for my doctors appointment! I've fallen back in love with the art journal and the process of creating in it and I suspect Phoebe and Nichole feel the same way. ;-)

The Round Robin Journal Project, Week 1

Round Robin by Laura

An introduction to the project and of course, it gave me a good excuse to practice drawing a bird. The quote on the stem reads:

Each drawing one makes, each study one paints, is a step forward. ~Vincent Van Gogh

Defining my Creative Self by Nichole

Nichole's first pages show her love for art, photography and writing. I love how she turned her selfie into a cartoon like retro girl! Very cute and clever!

Introduced by Phoebe

Phoebe's pages were so fun to read! It's all about introductions and how she would be introduced as a character in a movie. Who knew she didn't like potato salad? I promise not to make it next time she visits. ;-)

Now our journals rotated...we sent them off with a bit of trepidation but that was soon replaced by the excitement of inspiration!

An Hour with her Sketchpad by Nichole

I thought Nichole's entry in my journal was so clever! The turned-down page revealing the prior sketch, the quote and the little figure sketches...She wanted to show her progression from hesitation to confidence with the pencil and she achieved that quite nicely! And, if I do say so myself, that quote is exactly how I feel!

She Remembered All Those Happy Times by Phoebe

Phoebe wanted her pages in Nichole's journal to resemble an old, vintage scrapbook and she totally achieved her objective! Vintage photographs, yellowing tape, quotes all about time gone by and remembering the younger days. There was so much to look at and to read, which I did many times over!

Paris is Always a Good Idea by Laura

While waiting for Phoebe's journal to arrive in the mail, I had done a travel-themed spread in another Moleskine, testing out whether my idea would work and how it would look as a travel-related spread in Phoebe's journal. When her journal arrived and her first pages were about the French film Amelie, well then, I just had to make it all about Paris! A city we have both been to and love!

Round the journals go again...this time with less trepidation and more anticipation of what we all had done!

Explore by Phoebe

A lot of times Phoebe and I are on the same wave-length and in this round we both did travel-themed pages in each other's journals! Using her own photography, quotes and travel tips, and even an actual ticket, she created a mini travel scrapbook for me!

How Fragile We Are by Laura

For Nichole's pages I was inspired by silhouetted trees. Trees always inspire me. I love them! And I had so much fun creating this that I decided to do a whole Moleskine just on trees and flowers. The more you do art, the more you find inspiration! The title came from listening to Jason Castro's version of "Fragile" while creating this. It seemed fitting. Life is fragile and doesn't last long. Like a leaf on a tree.

Traveler by Nichole

Nichole also created a travel-themed page for Phoebe's journal, making Phoebe's Moleskine the most consistent in terms of overall theme. No theme intended, but it just worked out that way!I love her little traveling jester with pup!

Round 1 was a success and has made waiting for the mail a whole lot of fun! Stay tuned for Round 2! In the meantime, enjoy these additional works of journal art I created over the last couple of weeks:

Poppies

Trees I

Trees II

Fields of Joy

The Journey Awakens the Soul

Vases

And finally, one not done in a Moleskine but on the iPad with Paper 53:

Nature, I love you.

Until the next round, stay creative and in the light! 

22nd & 8th, a Digital Watercolor

22nd & 8th

This week I worked on a digital watercolor for Leanne. It was suppose to be her grad present when she graduated from NYU last May but I had so much going on that I couldn't get it done until this week. It's the view from her window. I wanted her to have an artistic reminder of her life in NYC...where she lived when she went to NYU, graduated, fell in love, made her stage debut and started her career as a working actress. She even rode out Hurricane Sandy here. 

I did it all in Photoshop. It took 6 hours over three days and had 16 layers. I didn't save each layer so I can't show the progress like I did with the lion painting from the last post but if anyone has questions about doing a digital watercolor, feel free to email me. 

King of the Jungle

King of the Jungle

After nearly a year of traveling, hosting company and having my brother diagnosed with cancer, I finally had two weeks to do nothing but take care of myself and indulge in some art!  I started the month with a detox, (my hubby participated as well which made it much easier to stick to) eliminating coffee, tea, sugar, wheat and dairy. Treated myself to a couple of massages to help speed along the removal of toxins. Purchased a juicer, a Vitamix, dehydrator and a bread machine to make my own gluten-free flax-seed bread. All of this was spurred on by my trip this summer to the Pura Vida Spa in Costa Rica (I'll share photos of my trip in the next post). In the five days I spent there with my mom and my friend Phoebe, I ate a high alkaline diet, had body treatments and left feeling rejuvenated and a lightness of being. When I got back, the stress hit when my brother Ryan was diagnosed with a rare form of melanoma (his treatment is over, now it's just "wait and see"). Stress can take a toll, causing one (uh, yea, me) to indulge in sugary mojitos and sweets. Thus, the detox. Detoxing is suppose to clear your mind as well, improving focus and clarity. I took advantage of that and the free time to delve into some digital art, creating my third painting done entirely in Photoshop. 

Lita and I got together for a digital art Saturday a couple of weeks ago and each of us picked something to work on from a Photoshop Creative magazine. I decided on a tutorial by Emerald de Leeuw on painting animal portraits. Here's a tip: when following a tutorial where the skill level is "expert", it's probably a good idea to be an expert at Photoshop. Unfortunately, I am not, nor did I notice the skill level until after I started and got stuck trying to understand what the hell they were trying to tell me to do. I *almost* chucked the whole thing but later that night, at home, I decided to just do it on my own, feeling my way through an array of colors and brushes and applying learned oil painting techniques. 

It took me 10 days, 30 hours and 40 layers. Titled King of the Jungle, here's how I did it.

The first step was to roughly sketch out the lion. This need not be perfect, I just needed to get the placement of the eyes and mouth correct:

My starting sketch

Next, I blocked in colors. I chose a variety of yellows, oranges, deep reds and browns. I also started the eyes right away, figuring if I gave him a soul, he would stare at me and demand I finish him. :-)

Now, I used a smudge tool to blend some of the colors together and then brushed in hair using a smaller brush, also adding more definition to the eyes and mouth:

  

Now I blended all those strokes together using a smudge tool and different soft brushes:

Repeating the two previous steps:

Next it was time to start blending and adding in details:



Next I worked on mouth detail:

Now it was time to get rid of the "teddy-bear" ears by reshaping and continuing the detail work:

Finally added the whiskers and finished off detail work:

Lastly, I adjusted color balance and contrast to my liking:

I even did a version in black and white with selective color:

I could still continue to work on it, smoothing out hair, adding details but I'm pretty happy to call it done! It's come a long way from that sketch!